The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

DEANDRE Ayton recorded his 14th double double of the postseason but the Phoenix Suns lost their third consecutive game of the NBA Finals and now face elimination for the first time in the 2021 Playoffs.

Ayton finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks as the Suns fell 123-119 to the Milwaukee Bucks Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The Bucks took a 3-2 lead in the series with game six set for Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at 9pm on July 20.

“I like it, tables are turned now, we’re the desperate team,” Ayton said.

“We had our chances of being up and trying to finish the job, now we’re in the same position they were in. They’re up, now we got to go get it, that’s why it’s a little more fun.”

The Suns led by as much as 16 in the first quarter but squandered that lead fairly quickly by allowing a series high 43 points in the second. The Bucks’ hot shooting continued in the third when they outscored the Suns 36-29. Over the course of the middle two quarters, the Bucks shot 32-45 from the field and outscored the Suns 79-53 during that stretch.

“It felt a little on and off. We were playing hard in some spurts and we got to a point where we were still in this thing in a long stretch of the game,” Ayton said, “we kind of picked it back up but games like you can’t really take no plays off.”

The Suns still trailed by as much as 10 in the fourth quarter with less than four minutes left to play but staged a late rally. A Chris Paul layup cut it to just one, 120-119 with 56 seconds to play. After a Bucks miss, the Suns had an opportunity for a go-ahead score, but Jrue Holiday came up with a steal and raced downcourt to dish an alley-oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo to put the game away.

In addition to Ayton’s double double, Booker scored 40 while Paul finished with 21 points and 11 assists.

Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 32 points and nine rebounds, Khris Middleton scored 29 and Holiday added 27 points 13 assists and three steals.

Milwaukee scored the first road win of the series thus far after the home team won each of the first four.

Ayton had a simple response when asked what it would take for the Suns to keep their season alive and return to Phoenix with a win in game six.

“Everything,” he said. “Just being relentless man, we can’t really shy away from what really got us here, we just have to stay consistent. We just have to regroup and just make sure we key in on togetherness when things don’t go our way.”

Milwaukee already has one 2-0 comeback this postseason, in round two against the Brooklyn Nets.

Game five winners of a tied series have won the series 21-29 times in the NBA Finals. “We’ve got to win one game to put them back on the plane. That’s it,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “And you have to have that determination that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to put them back on the plane.”